A vehicle driven by receiving liquid fuel, such as a gasoline engine or a diesel engine, is provided with a fuel tank in which fuel is stored.
In addition, the vehicle is provided with a fuel pump module forcibly supplying the fuel filled in the fuel tank to the engine.
Generally, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the fuel pump module is configured to include a flange assembly 1, a reservoir body assembly 2, a guide rod 3 connecting the flange assembly and the reservoir body assembly to each other, a spring 4 positioned at an outer side of the guide rod 3, and a filter (a primary filter 5a and a secondary filter 5b) filtering foreign materials included in the fuel tank.
This structure may be confirmed in Korean Utility Model Application No. 20-1997-0016877 (Korean Utility Model Registration No. 20-0160774), or the like.
In most cases, the flange assembly 1 is fixed to an inlet portion of the fuel tank and the reservoir body assembly 2 is positioned at the bottom of the fuel tank.
In addition, the guide rod, which connects the flange assembly and the reservoir body assembly to each other while guiding movement of the spring, is configured to slidably move to an inner side of the reservoir body assembly.
Further, the spring is positioned at the outer side of the guide rod, and is positioned between the flange assembly and the reservoir body assembly to allow the reservoir body assembly to be always positioned on the bottom of the fuel tank.
Further, the filter is configured of a primary filter 5a filtering foreign materials in the fuel before being supplied to the fuel pump and a secondary filter 5b filtering foreign materials in the fuel passing through the fuel pump 7.
In addition, the secondary filter 5b is an in-tank filter having a form in which it is embedded in a case including an upper case and a lower case.
The reason why the fuel pump module includes both of the primary and secondary filters is to minimize a load acting on the fuel pump, or the like, which is increased as sizes of the foreign materials capable of being filtered by the filter become small, and improve filtering efficiency.
However, even though the fuel pump module is implemented to include the primary and secondary filters as described above, since there is a limitation in increasing a size of the primary filter in view of characteristics of the fuel pump module and the secondary filter has an in-tank filter form, necessity for a structure capable of increasing a lifespan while further improving filtering efficiency has been increased.
In addition, the secondary filter having the in-tank filter form may be damaged while being used, such as generation of a swelling phenomenon, or the like, due to high temperature and high pressure, and it is inconvenient to replace and repair the secondary filter.
Meanwhile, according to the related art, the guide rod is made only of a metal, such that a material cost, a labor cost, and the like, increase, thereby making payability bad.
Particularly, lengths of the guide rods are different from each other according to a specification of the fuel pump module. Therefore, since manufacturers should secure guide rods having various lengths in order to provide guide rods appropriate for each fuel pump module, an economical burden increases.
In addition, since the guide rod is relatively stronger than the flange assembly or the reservoir body assembly that is made of a synthetic resin material due to characteristics of a material thereof, a shear inducing part allowing damage to be generated in order to prevent leakage of the fuel in a situation such as generation of traffic accident, or the like, is formed at the flange assembly, such that a cost required for repairing and replacing the fuel pump module increases.
Further, a snap ring for assembling the guide rod to the flange assembly and the reservoir body assembly is required, and a groove for installing the snap ring should be formed in the guide rod.